Howie Adams

After graduating from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in 1972, Howie and his wife Joanne came to Tucson where he began a dental program at a rural health clinic in Marana, Arizona with the United States Public Health Service. Both Joanne and Howie’s parents were heavily involved in philanthropy. This was a natural beginning to their practice of “giving back.” Their two children and their spouses, and four grandchildren are continuing that tradition. Howie’s dedication to intergenerational work inspires him to look for solutions that account for the whole family’s needs. In addition, Howie is a forward thinker prioritizing legacy building within families and encourages others to use their resources to promote community change.

Howie has been involved in various nonprofit organizations in several capacities — with a particular interest creating and sustaining support for children and young adults. He has seen first hand through his experience facilitating grief support programs how involving whole family units in programming can be transformative by moving forward together.  His time as a youth advocate at Youth on Their Own led to volunteer work with a pilot program called Touch Point Connection offering coaching support to teens at Amphitheater High School. Howie became enamored with the process of coaching and in 2011 received his certification inPersonal and Professional Coaching from Newfield Network in Boulder, Colorado, and is now a Professional Certified Coach (PCC).

The attraction to SVP was the organization’s emphasis on supporting nonprofits by providing expertise and acumen in various business domains as the “capital” that those organizations might not otherwise have access. In addition to being on the board, Howie is the lead partner of the coaching program which complements the capacity building efforts of SVP. Working with SVP staff, partners are trained in the “art” of listening and providing a safe place for nonprofit staff to have engage with a confidant to generate sustainable outcomes for their organizations.

Howie and Joanne love to travel — to witness and observe other cultures and gain new and different perspectives on life. Aside from family functions, particularly with their grandchildren, cycling and hiking are activities which bring him much enjoyment. But nothing can replace “being” on the water fly fishing in the streams of Arizona.